February 5
Events *1576 - Henry of Navarre converts to Roman Catholicism in order to ensure his right to the throne of France. *1597 - A group of early Japanese Christians are killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese society. *1631 - Roger Williams emigrates to Boston. *1778 - South Carolina becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation. *1782 - Spanish defeat British forces and capture Minorca. *1818 - Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway. *1859 - Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexander John Cuza as the United Principalities. *1885 - King Léopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo as a personal possession. *1900 - The United States and the United Kingdom sign treaty for Panama Canal *1917 - The current constitution of Mexico is adopted, establishing a federal republic with powers separated into independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches. * 1917 - The Congress of the United States passes a law, over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, banning most Asian immigration to the United States. *1919 - Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith launch United Artists. *1924 - The Royal Greenwich Observatory begin broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal or the "BBC pips". *1936 - Charlie Chaplin releases the last movie of the silent film era, Modern Times. *1937 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposes a plan to enlarge the Supreme Court of the United States. *1945 - World War II: General Douglas MacArthur returns to Manila. *1946 - The Chondoist Chongu Party is founded in North Korea. *1958 - Gamel Abdel Nasser is nominated to be the first president of the United Arab Republic. * 1958 - A hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb is lost by the US Air Force off the coast of Savannah, never to be recovered. *1962 - French President Charles De Gaulle calls for allowing Algeria to be an independent nation. *1968 - Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh begins. *1971 - Apollo program: Apollo 14 Mission - Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell aboard LM, Antares land on the Moon at Fra Mauro formation. *1972 - Bob Douglas becomes the first African American elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. *1974 - John Murtha becomes the first Vietnam War veteran elected to the Congress of the United States. *1988 - Manuel Noriega is indicted on drug smuggling and money laundering charges. * 1988 - Comic Relief holds the first "Red Nose Day", which raises £15 million in the United Kingdom for charity. *1994 - Byron De La Beckwith is convicted of the 1963 murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. *1994 - During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina more than 60 people are killed and some 200 wounded as a mortar shell slams into a downtown marketplace in Sarajevo. *1997 - The so-called Big Three banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families. *2004 - Twenty-three Chinese people drown when a group of 35 cockle-pickers are trapped by rising tides in Morecambe Bay, England. Twenty-one bodies are recovered. * 2004 - Rebels from the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front capture the city of Gonaïves, starting the 2004 Haiti rebellion. Births * 976 - Sanjo, Emperor of Japan (d. 1017) *1505 - Aegidius Tschudi, Swiss historian (d. 1572) *1519 - René of Châlon, (d. 1544) *1534 - Giovanni de' Bardi, Italian writer (d. 1612) *1589 - Esteban Manuel de Villegas, Spanish poet (d. 1669) *1608 - Gaspar Schott, German mathematician (d. 1666) *1626 - Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, French author (d. 1696) *1650 - Anne-Jules, French general (d. 1708) *1703 - Gilbert Tennent, Irish-born religious leader (d. 1764) *1725 - James Otis, American lawyer and patriot (d. 1783) *1788 - Robert Peel, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1850) *1795 - Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger, Austrian mineralogist (d. 1871) *1804 - Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Finnish poet (d. 1877) *1808 - Carl Spitzweg, German painter (d. 1885) *1810 - Ole Bull, Norwegian violinist (d. 1880) *1837 - Dwight L. Moody, American evangelist (d. 1899) *1840 - John Boyd Dunlop, Scottish inventor (d. 1921) * 1840 - Hiram Stevens Maxim, American inventor (Maxim gun) (d. 1916) *1848 - Joris-Karl Huysmans, French author (d. 1907) * 1848 - Belle Starr, American outlaw (d. 1889) * 1848 - Ignacio Carrera Pinto, Chilean war hero (d. 1882) *1878 - André Citroën, French automobile pioneer (d. 1935) *1880 - Gabriel Voisin, French aviation pioneer (d. 1973) *1889 - Ernest Tyldesley, British cricketer (d. 1962) *1900 - Adlai Stevenson, American politician (d. 1965) *1903 - Joan Whitney Payson, American heiress (d. 1975) *1906 - John Carradine, American actor (d. 1988) *1908 - Daisy and Violet Hilton, British conjoined twins (d. 1969) *1910 - Francisco Varallo, Argentine footballer * 1910 - Charles Leblond, Canadian Cell Biologist (d. 2007) *1911 - Jussi Björling, Swedish tenor (d. 1960) *1914 - William S. Burroughs, American author (d. 1997) * 1914 - Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1998) *1915 - Robert Hofstadter, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1990) *1919 - Red Buttons, American actor (d. 2006) * 1919 - Andreas Papandreou, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1996) * 1919 - Tim Holt, American actor (d. 1973) *1920 - Frank Muir, British comedian (d. 1998) *1921 - John Pritchard, British conductor (d. 1989) *1922 - Alain de Changy, Belgian racing driver (d. 1994) *1923 - Claude King, American musician *1927 - Ruth Fertel, American entrepreneur (d. 2002) *1928 - Andrew Greeley, American priest and novelist *1929 - Luc Ferrari, French composer (d. 2005) * 1929 - Fred Sinowatz, Austrian politician *1929 - Al Worthington, baseball player *1930 - John A. Gambling, American radio show host (d. 2004) *1933 - Jörn Donner, Finnish writer/director *1934 - Don Cherry, Canadian hockey commentator * 1934 - Hank Aaron, American baseball player *1937 - Stuart Damon, American actor * 1937 - Wang Xuan, Chinese scientist *1940 - H.R. Giger, Swiss artist *1941 - Jane Bryant Quinn, American journalist * 1941 - David Selby, American actor * 1941 - Kaspar Villiger, Swiss Federal Councilor *1942 - Roger Staubach, American football player * 1942 - Cory Wells, American singer (Three Dog Night) *1943 - Nolan Bushnell, American video game pioneer * 1943 - Michael Mann, American film director * 1943 - Craig Morton, American football player *1944 - Al Kooper, American musician *1946 - Charlotte Rampling, British actress *1947 - Darrell Waltrip, American race car driver *1948 - Sven-Göran Eriksson, Swedish football manager * 1948 - Christopher Guest, American actor * 1948 - Barbara Hershey, American actress * 1948 - Errol Morris, American film director *1952 - Daniel Balavoine, French singer and songwriter (d. 1986) *1953 - John Beilein, American basketball coach *1954 - Cliff Martinez, American musician *1955 - Mike Heath, baseball player *1955 - Jorge Ferreira, Portuguese-American superstar singer *1956 - Hector Rebaque, Mexican racing driver *1960 - Aris Christofellis, Greek countertenor *1961 - Savvas Kofidis, Greek footballer and manager *1962 - Jennifer Jason Leigh, American actress *1963 - Steven Shainberg, American film director *1964 - Alexia, Cypriot singer * 1964 - Laura Linney, American actress * 1964 - Duff McKagan, American musician *1965 - Gheorghe Hagi, Romanian footballer *1966 - Rok Petrovič, Slovenian skier (d. 1993) * 1966 - Apostolos Nanos, Greek archer *1968 - Roberto Alomar, baseball player * 1968 - Eyþór Guðjónsson, Icelandic actor *1969 - Bobby Brown, American singer * 1969 - Michael Sheen, Welsh actor *1971 - Sara Evans, American singer *1972 - Mary * 1972 - Koriki Chōshū, Japanese comedian *1973 - Richard Matvichuk, Canadian ice hockey player * 1973 - Trijntje Oosterhuis, Dutch singer *1975 - Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Dutch footballer * 1975 - Adam Carson, American musician (AFI) *1976 - Tony Jaa, Thai actor * 1976 - Abhishek Bachchan, Indian actor * 1976 - John Aloisi, Australian footballer * 1976 - Brian Moorman, American football player *1977 - Ben Ainslie, British sailor * 1977 - Adam Everett, American baseball player * 1977 - Ahmad Merritt, American football player *1978 - Shawn Reaves, American actor * 1978 - Brian Russell, American football player *1980 - Brad Fitzpatrick, American programmer * 1980 - Prince Peter, American-born Yugoslav royalty * 1980 - Jo Swinson, British politician * 1980 - Robin Vik, Czech tennis player *1981 - Nora Zehetner, American actress * 1981 - Loukas Vyntra, Greek football player *1982 - Rodrigo Palacio, Argentine footballer * 1982 - Kevin Everett, American football player *1984 - Carlos Tévez, Argentinine footballer * 1984 - Nate Salley, American football player *1985 - Laurence Maroney, American football player * 1985 - Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese footballer * 1985 - Crystal Hunt, American actress * 1985 - Lindsey Cardinale, American singer *1986 - Reed Sorenson, American racecar driver * 1986 - Billy Sharp, English footballer * 1986 - Manuel Fernandes, Portuguese footballer *1989 - Jeremy Sumpter, American actor Deaths * 995 - William IV, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 937) *1520 - Sten Sture the Younger, regent of Sweden (b. 1493) *1578 - Giambattista Moroni, Italian painter *1705 - Philipp Jakob Spener, German theologian (b. 1635) *1766 - Leopold Josef Graf Daun, Austrian field marshal (b. 1705) *1775 - Eusebius Amort, German Catholic theologian (b. 1692) *1790 - William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (b. 1710) *1807 - Pasquale Paoli, Corsican patriot and military leader (b. 1725) *1881 - Thomas Carlyle, Scottish writer and historian (b. 1795) *1892 - Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Swedish novelist (b. 1807) *1915 - Ross Barnes, baseball player (b. 1850) *1917 - Jaber II Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1860) *1922 - Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, Croatian inventor (b. 1871) * 1922 - Christiaan De Wet, South African general (b. 1854) *1927 - Inayat Khan, Indian sufi *1937 - Lou Andreas-Salome, Russian-born writer (b. 1861) *1938 - Hans Litten, German jurist (b. 1903) *1941 - Banjo Paterson, Australian poet, author of "Walzing Matilda" (b. 1864) *1946 - George Arliss, English actor (b. 1868) *1948 - Johannes Blaskowitz, German general (b. 1883) *1957 - Sami Ibrahim Haddad, Lebanese surgeon (b. 1890) *1962 - Jacques Ibert, French composer (b. 1890) *1967 - Leon Leonwood Bean, American department store founder (b. 1872) *1969 - Thelma Ritter, American actress (b. 1905) *1970 - Rudy York, baseball player (b. 1913) *1972 - Marianne Moore, American poet (b. 1887) *1976 - Rudy Pompilli, American musician (Bill Haley and His Comets) (b. 1926) *1977 - Oskar Klein, Swedish physicist (b. 1894) *1981 - Ella Grasso, Governor of Connecticut (b. 1919) *1984 - Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta, Mexican wrestler and film actor (b. 1917) *1985 - Georges-Émile Lapalme, Quebec politician (b. 1907) *1987 - William Collier, American film and stage actor (b. 1902) *1991 - Dean Jagger, American actor (b. 1903) *1992 - Miguel Rolando Covian, Brazilian physiologist (b. 1913) *1993 - Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American writer, producer, and director (b. 1909) * 1993 - Tip Tipping, American actor and stuntman (parachuting accident) (b. 1958) *1995 - Doug McClure, American actor (b. 1935) *1997 - Pamela Harriman, English-born American diplomat (b. 1920) *1998 - Tim Kelly, American musician (b. 1963) *1999 - Wassily Leontief, Russian economist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1906) *2000 - Claude Autant-Lara, French film director (b. 1901) *2003 - Helge Boes, American Central Intelligence Agency officer *2004 - John Hench, American animator (b. 1908) *2005 - Gnassingbe Eyadema, President of Togo (b. 1937) *2006 - Norma Candal, Puerto Rican actress and comedian (b. 1930) * 2006 - Franklin Cover, American actor (b. 1928) *2007 - Alfred Worm, Austrian investigative journalist (b. 1945) * 2007 - Leo T. McCarthy, American politician and 43rd Lieutenant Governor of California (1983–1995) (b. 1930) External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- February 05